


Sociopathic Pregnancies

by QueenLexi3



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hormonal Female Sherlock, John and Sherlock are a couple, Mycroft and Greg are involved, Mycroft is protective, Not S3 or S2 compliant, Pregnant Sherlock, Sharlotte forgets Greg's name, Sherlock's name is Sharlotte
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-17
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 07:29:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1974156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenLexi3/pseuds/QueenLexi3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>((Lol I suck at summaries but anyhow))</p><p>Sharlotte Holmes, notoriously a virgin, gets pregnant and the finger is pointed to John. Everyone knew it would happen eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I am very American. Please forgive my American-ness. Also this is my first Sherlock fic, and I am nowhere near as smart as anyone in the series.

     John Watson, upon entering 221B, smells a smell. Not just any smell, though. A particularly not good smell. His nose wrinkles in distaste as he sets his bags down- he'd been shopping again- and ventures further into the flat. Part of him wonders if this is even a good idea, because the particularly not good smell increases as he goes into the living room. He then notices how quiet it is and his eyes narrow, because when you live with one Sharlotte Holmes silence isn't usually a good thing.  

"Sharlotte?" Because of the particularly not good smell and the silence, he can only draw the conclusion that she's done something she knows probably was not a very good thing to do. He looks around the flat a bit more and then sighs, deciding to give up. She'd tell him eventually. 

John is sitting in the kitchen, enjoying a cup of tea and some toast, when she walks in. He can't help but notice she's not wearing her usual pencil skirt and turtle neck. The preferred garments have been replaced with a pair of pajama bottoms and a t shirt. 

"I regret to inform you that you no longer own any jumpers but the one you're wearing." She refuses to make eye contact, and John sits there a moment to put two and two together. The particularly not good smell was... burnt fabric. He sighs and sets his head in the palm of his hand. "Your jumpers and I did not see eye-to-eye, so I eliminated them from the equation." John just looks at her a moment, then shrugs and goes back to the book he'd been reading. Life with Sharlotte Holmes teaches one to expect the unexpected. 

"I suppose we'll have to go jumper shopping, then." He looks at her from the corner of his eye just in time to watch her bolt out of the kitchen and towards the bathroom. He stares at the space she was occupying for a moment before standing and going down the hall. He can hear heaving sounds coming from inside and pushes the slightly open door open all the way. "Sharlotte? What's wrong?" She sits back on her heels and stares into the toilet bowl disdainfully. Then she flushes the toilet and turns to him. 

"John, you're a doctor. I'll give you my symptoms and you tell me what's wrong." John can see a look in her eye that says she already KNOWS what's wrong, but is having a hard time believing it. John has seen many cases like that before. He nods. 

"Okay, tell me your symptoms." She nods and clears her throat. 

"Excessive tiredness, throwing up, weight loss, headaches, and some smells make me feel sick." She looks at him a moment, waiting for the diagnosis. John, however, is inwardly panicking because he knows those symptoms and is more than a little bit responsible for them. 

"Sharlotte, please don't freak out. You're pregnant." 


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An appointment is attended, and Sharlotte decides what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am American- very sorry about that- and if someone would like to tell me how to be British that'd be great. You know, lingo and such. I do not own Sherlock.

Sharlotte's mouth hangs open in a moment of complete shock- John relishes it, because it's something he rarely gets to see. Then her mouth snaps closed, she straightens up and shakes her head. 

"Nonsense. I can't be pregnant." John raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms. 

"I hate to break it to you, but you can. I'd say you aren't out of the first trimester. You'll need a blood test to be sure." He nods and puts his hands on his hips. "Should I schedule an appointment?" 

Sharlotte makes a face. "Ugh, doctors. Fine..." The genius takes a deep breath and turns on her heel, ever the dramatic, into the bathroom. "Schedule an appointment and I'll shower and get dressed." 

John makes a face at her as the door closes, then checks his watch. It's only ten, so he guesses it's justified for her to be in her pajamas. He sighs and closes his eyes, leaning against the wall. 'What if she is pregnant? What then?' He straightens and goes to make the appointment. He stares at the phone a moment, as if not knowing what exactly to do with it. He's in a haze of some sort- of disbelief, probably. They'd only had unprotected sex ONCE. But apparently once was enough... He takes a deep breath, shakes himself, and dials the phone.   
~~~

John is not surprised to see her step out of her room with her wild, too-long curls swept back into a braid. She rarely does that, only when she's too frazzled to take the time to put it in the perfect bun she prefers. He nods and stands up off the couch, smiling. The rest of her is normal. Scarf, with a dark purple turtleneck sweater and a peacoat. He doesn't take note of the black pencil skirt and turned down white socks with Mary Jane's. The fact that she always looks so professional kind of puts him off sometimes, so he never lets his eyes travel below her waist. 

"John, dear, I don't want you to strain yourself or anything but my eyes happen to be located quite a bit above my chest. Just saying. When is the appointment?" 

The words prompt a blush and he hums. "Thirty minutes. We should get going." 

The genius nods and follows him out of the flat. 

~~~

John watches Sharlotte's leg bounce as she fills out a chart and it makes him a bit jumpy. He huffs and glares. 

"Knock it off!" John watches as his... girlfriend?- what ARE they, anyway?- regards him with cool indifference and continues to bounce her leg maddeningly. Then she hands the chart to John and crosses her arms, taking deep breath after deep breath. John decides to let the leg-bouncing go because it's obvious she's just as, if not more, nervous as he is, and he doesn't even have to think hard about it to know that she has more reason to be nervous than he does. 

"Sharlotte Holmes?" John looks up as the name is called and then watches her stand easily. He stands as well, then his stride stutters because he isn't sure he's welcome. she nods once and takes a deep breath, holding her hand out for him to take. His heart swells at the rare gesture and laces their fingers together as they're taken to an exam room. The nurse takes all the important information and then leaves them to wait for the doctor. John sits next to Sharlotte and watches her a moment. 

"I love you." He can see a faint flicker of a smile pass her full pink lips. It's not something they say often, but when it is said it means a lot. Sharlotte nods and leans into him. 

"I know. It's hard not to love me- I'm me." John rolls his eyes and they sit in silence for the next twenty minutes while they wait for the doctor. 

When the man does enter, John smiles and nods as he introduces himself. 

"Hello, I'm Doctor Keller and I'll be treating you today. Your chart says you think you're pregnant." 

"I am a doctor, and that's what all of her symptoms point to..." Doctor Keller nods and turns to Sharlotte. 

"Please share you symptoms with me." John listens to the same list he'd heard being rattled off and Doctor Keller raises an eyebrow. "When did you get your last period?" 

"Six... no, seven weeks ago." She winces and looks away for a moment, then takes ANOTHER deep breath and looks back. "So? My period's never been regular. Well, it comes every month at the same time but sometimes it's late." John scoffs. 

"Seven weeks late?" He shuts his mouth when Sharlotte glares at him and then looks back to Doctor Keller. 

"We'll take a blood test, then." 

After taking the blood and waiting several more minutes, the tests come back. John and Sharlotte look expectantly at the doctor and he smiles. 

"Sharlotte, you're pregnant. For real. I have the results here." John sits there numbly as Sharlotte takes them and then hands them back as though she doesn't know what she's doing. Then she takes a deep breath and takes the prescription for prenatal vitamins. John follows without being told.   
~~~

Later, they're sitting on the couch with mugs of tea. John had made Sharlotte's with no caffeine. He looks over at her. 

"What are we going to do?" She meets his gaze and looks.. scared. The older man can understand that. 

"What CAN we do? Our options are keeping it, abortion, or adoption..." 

"We can't abort- that's wrong." 

"I agree. No abortion, then." She pulls her knees up to her chest. "Adoption seems like a really messy process..." John watches her for a moment. 

"We could keep it." Sharlotte laughs a bit. 

"I'm hardly the mothering type- not to mention our jobs aren't exactly the best for raising a child." 

"But I think you want to keep it." 

"I'd screw up." 

"Or you'd be fantastic. You'd have me to help, you know." Sharlotte's eyebrows furrow. 

"So you aren't leaving?" John's eyes widen and he pulls her into his arms. 

"No! Why would I leave you?" 

They stay in that position for a long time, and sharlotte pulls away after forty minutes.

"John, we'll keep it. The baby. We're keeping her." He sits up and raises an eyebrow.

"A girl? You can't know that."

"I know everything."  John rolls his eyes. 

"Oh, right, I forgot." he hums and watches her closely for a moment. "Are you sure?" 

"Of course." But she doesn't look sure. She looks monumentally unsure, actually. Instead of saying that, he nods and kisses her. 

"Okay." They sit in silence for a long time, and Sharlotte eventually wonders over to her violin to start playing. John watches her for a while and then gets a book to read. They don't really say much for the rest of the day. They float around in their own little thought bubbles, though at some point John gets up and hides the nicotine patches from Sharlotte- she can't use them if she's pregnant. And then that night, Sharlotte and John go to bed together for once. They know they'll have  to start making the hard decisions for soon, but for now they'll just begin to figure out what to do.


	3. Chapter Three

Three weeks after the news, they still haven't really acknowledged the fact that they're going to be having a baby. It's as though they don't even know. Other than Sharlotte eating a lot and sleeping much more, nothing has changed. John had added it up and Sharlotte was eight weeks along when they found out. That puts them at eleven weeks now. Sonograms are usually done by now to make sure everything is going okay, and John supposed he and Sharlotte should go and get one of those. He's expecting to be the first to say something, but as he's thinking it all over Sharlotte stops her violin playing- which John hadn't even noticed until it stopped- and looks at him. 

"John, we're having a child together." he raises an eyebrow and looks around the room. 

"I'm aware..." She nods. 

"Well then, we should go to the doctor's appointment I scheduled for us under your name. There's to be an ultrasound, I think." She smiles and goes back to playing. John stares at her for a minute, eyebrow raised nearly into his hairline. 

"You arranged an ultra-sound already? For when?" She stops and checks her watch. 

"We should be there in precisely thirty minutes." His jaw drops. 

"Why did you not bother telling me?!" 

"I did. Not even two minutes ago. Really, John, I hope this child doesn't take after you in the wit department. Tch." Then she goes back to playing. John stares at her for a minute before going to get dressed. 

~~~

Once they get there, it's quite obvious that John is not the only nervous one. Sharlotte is bouncing her leg maddeningly and John is shooting her frequent glares. For once, she doesn't seem to notice. He huffs, deciding he'll have to be a bit more forward. 

"Would you stop all that leg-jiggling? You're driving me up a wall." She shoots him a dirty look and continues right on with what she was doing. John sighs and looks the other way, to the other people in the waiting room. They're all nervous too. It doesn't take Sharlotte Holmes to figure that one out. He sighs and shifts in his seat. The rain outside had dampened his clothes, and now the air conditioned waiting room is making him very cold.  He sighs and sinks a bit lower in his seat. He glances over at Sharlotte to see that the leg bouncing has stopped AND she's picked up a parenting magazine. His eyes widen and he hurriedly gets out his phone to take a picture. He'll be showing that to Lestrade later, when they tell him. They sit there for ten more minutes, and then the name is called and they go in. They take Sharlotte's weight and then go into the exam room, when the technology is already set up. They have Sharlotte get onto the table and John watches as they spread the gel and start to look up at the screen, waiting. John inhales sharply when he sees the fuzzy little blip. It blinks steadily like a light and he smiles a bit as they point at it. 

"Ah, yes. The heartbeat..." No one really pays attention to the technician, but she ploughs on. "You should be able to hear it, if you want to." Before waiting for an answer she flips a switch and the heartbeat starts going through the room. John looks to Sharlotte, whose face is quite expressive for once. He can read awe and fear, mainly. He takes her hand and squeezes it. She looks up at him. 

"John-" But she chokes and up looks back at the screen. John smiles and kisses her hand. 

"I know." 

~~~

When they get home, Sharlotte opens the laptop and begins to type furiously. "I've decided we should tell everyone we need to tell. Mummy, Father, Mycroft, your mum, Harry- should we send out a letter of sorts, or should we tell them face-to-face?" John rolls his eyes and sits down. 

"This isn't something you say over a letter. I'll invite Harry to coffee- she'll accept, I think." Sharlotte stops typing a moment and nods once.

"Mycroft and mummy and father, though? How will we tell them?" She keeps typing then, obviously expecting a fast reply. 

"How do you want to tell them?" 

"I could phone them. It'd be quick. Mummy will probably insist I come over and have tea. I'll never really get a word in, though, so..." She pushes the laptop aside and crosses her arms. "Mycroft is here. May as well tell him now. I think... ah, yes. Lestrade too. They're worried about me, from the sound of their hurried footsteps. Or they're thinking we aren't home and Lestrade talked him into shagging in our bedroom... It isn't as though they know we share, of course." she sighs and watches as the door opens. She waves from her spot on the couch and Mycroft nods at her. 

"Hello, sister dearest. I figured I'd just-" 

"Pleasantries are dull. You've come to stick your offending nose into my business. And I see you've brought your little boy-toy along as well. Splendid. I suppose we can just kill two birds with one stone, then." She stands. Lestrade looks slightly alarmed as he sits down, and nods to a cooly indifferent Mycroft to do the same. John looks at Sharlotte and bites his lip, a bit amused at how abruptly she's announcing it. 

"Sharlotte, dear, are you sure you want to tell them just yet?" Sharlotte raises an eyebrow at him, and the look says it all so she turns back. Mycroft huffs and checks his watch. 

"Really now, Sharlotte, stop wasting our time. Gregory and I have places to be!" She looks slightly surprised at him. 

"Gregory? And here I thought his name was Gabriel... hmm. Anyhow, I do have a legitimate announcement." John nods and scoots a bit closer to her. She takes a deep breath and nods. "Well. I'm pregnant." 

For a few moments, there's complete silence. Then suddenly John feels his knees buckling and an explosive pain in his jaw. His world spins for a moment before he reflexively hits back at his attacker, and he feels himself make contact. He feels someone cautiously set a hand on his shoulder and calms down a bit, then looks up to see Lestrade has a bleeding nose. 

"What the hell? Why did you do that?" Lestrade glares and stomps off to the kitchen to get paper towels. Even Mycroft looks surprised at his boyfriend's behavior, and simply offers a shrug and studies his surroundings. John settles on the couch and ignores the pain in his jaw. He looks over at Sharlotte, who's typing away on her laptop. John wonders what it is she's typing about, but shrugs it off. He probably doesn't want to know, really. He glares at Lestrade as he walks in. "Are you going to tell me WHY you punched me in the face now?" He takes a deep breath. 

"Well, a series of rash assumptions led to that, really. I assumed Sharlotte had no interest in you, even though that's plainly not true, and therefore that you had taken advantage of her and left her with permanent evidence..." He looks over to the said woman, and she looks offended. 

"Excuse me? As though I would let anyone take advantage of me." Mycroft pipes up at this point. 

"So you're pregnant? Which Dr. Watson's child?" Sharlotte nods once. 

"Yes. I'm eleven weeks along. I was going to wait till I was fully out of the first trimester, but decided against it as we went for an ultra sound today and all is well." 

"How long have you known?" 

"Since I was eight weeks along." He nods, though looks a little unsettled. Sharlotte noticed. "Oh, big brother. Are you uncomfortable because someone finally managed to deflower your darling little sister? Quite thoroughly, too." She smirks as both Mycroft and Lestrade make a 'ewww gross' face. John blushes bright red and shakes his head. 

"You're ridiculous, Sharlotte..." She only shrugs. 

"Well, big brother, any further questions?" 

"Yes, actually." Sharlotte sighs but pays attention. "Who's name will you give the child? Yours, or John's?" 

"We haven't talked about that..." There's a collective silence for a few seconds, before Lestrade breaks it. 

"What are you two? I mean, are you dating or are you fuckbuddies or what?" 

"Uh..." John and Sharlotte share a look that clearly says 'we need to talk' and then she takes a deep breath. 

"As far as I know, we're together. Boyfriend and girlfriend. I mean, we sleep with each other and throw the 'L' word around occasionally." Mycroft nods and stands, leaning on his umbrella. Then he sighs and shakes his head. 

"I hate to think what mummy will say about you settling down before me..." 

"Ah, yes. I'll be telling her soon." That's obviously all the goodbye they'll be getting, so John waves to them and watches the door shut. Then he turns to Sharlotte. 

"We're dating?" She raises an eyebrow and nods. 

"I assumed so. We go out to dinner and we're having a child. So... yes." She nods and goes back to the computer. John smiles and nods, deciding that's as conventional it'll get. 'But when has she ever been anything more than unconventional?' 

~~~

A week later, John wakes up to the light being turned on. He groans and opens his eyes to see Sharlotte standing there. He blinks a few times and notices that she's very topless, though he does note that she hasn't taken off her bra.

"What?" He isn't really able to get a much more welcoming greeting out, and his irritation at being woken up is having a good deal to do with that. 

"I need you to answer a question for me." He glances at the clock and sees it's already eight. 

"I'll see what I can do." 

"Is this fat, or a baby bump?" He looks closer at her stomach. Sure, it's definitely filled out a lot. You can't quite see her ribs anymore, and her stomach isn't seemingly caving in on itself either. 

"That's extra weight, preparing for the growth of the baby and such." He sits up and sighs. "I have coffee with Harry today." 

"Yes, you do. What time?" 

"Twelve." 

"I want bacon for breakfast, so I hope you have enough time to make it." And then she turns and marches into the bathroom. John sighs and drags himself out of bed to make tea and food. 

A few hours later, after he's dressed and has eaten, he kisses Sharlotte goodbye and goes to meet up with Harry. 

When he does get there, he isn't all that surprised to find her hands shaky and her eyes bloodshot. He sighs as he sits down, but smiles at her. 

"Hello, Harry." She smiles and sips her coffee. 

"Hey, little brother. How have you been lately?" He smiles a bit.

"Good. You?" She shrugs and sighs. 

"Fine, I suppose. Just... fine." He's ashamed that he has no clue what to say to her. He has no idea at all. He sips his coffee and hopes she'll initiate the next conversation. "So... how's the crime-solving thing going?" 

"Oh, fantastically." He smiles a bit, perking up. "Brilliant, really." She smiles a bit at his enthusiasm. Then John remembers that he came to tell her something. "Ah, yes. I... have some news." she tilts her head and leans forward. 

"I'm all ears." He smiles a bit and nods. 

"Um. Sharlotte and I- we're together. As a couple. And she's pregnant. With my child." Her face falls, and John knows she wants a baby but Clara always said not if Harry was drinking. And now there is no Clara in the picture at all. 

"Y-You're going to have a baby?" John nods, suddenly feeling a bit bad again. 

"Yeah." She frowns. 

"She'll be a rubbish mother, John. She doesn't care about people. She'll look at it like an experiment- she'll get bored." John glares at her, anger and protectiveness bubbling in his chest.

"She talks to her stomach. She eats and sleeps and she got rid of the nicotine patches herself. She got rid of the toxic experiments and things that could cause harm. If that's her NOT caring, i'd hate to see what she's like when she does care." He shakes his head, slams down the money and stands. "It was nice, Harry. I'll thank you not to tell mum before I do." 

Back at the flat, he can hear sweet violin music and it soothes him. He smiles as he opens the door, and he walks up slowly. She stops playing and turns to John. 

"Hello, John. Coffee with Harry didn't go well, I see." He nods and shrugs. 

"She just said something about-" 

"Me not being a good mum? No doubt. Dull." She yawns and sets her things back in the case and rubs her eyes. "I'll be taking a nap if you need me." John tries to see if the words actually got to her, but can't determine it so he nods. When she's gone, he gets her laptop to see what she'd been looking up. He smiles to see tabs of baby names and how to stay healthy during a pregnancy. 'She really does care about this child...' John sets the laptop back where it was and goes to make lunch. He hums as he works and puts it in the fridge for whenever Sharlotte may want it. 

~~~ 

The next day, they get called on a murder case that may involve a chase. Sharlotte turns it down, even though it's a seven. She solves it without having to chase after a murder, and John expects it has something to do with the child. He doesn't say anything to her about it, though.

When they get back to the flat, John sits in his chair and Sharlotte lies down on the couch. She pulls up her shirt and looks at her stomach, trying to discern what is fat and what is a growing baby. John sits by her feet and looks as well. 

"Oh. Maybe that was a bit of a baby bump. You're actually starting to show." 

"That's what happens, John." She pushes her shirt back down and, despite her trying to hide it, John can see that she's actually quite pleased with that. He hums and gets his laptop. 

"Should we tell everyone that we're dating? You know, on the blog." She sighs and seems to think about that. 

"If you want to. Don't mention the pregnancy, though. I don't need people knowing about that baby." 

"Eventually you'll start showing, and people will know that Sharlotte Holmes is having a child." 

"Well let them work it out on their own. Don't put the child on the blog." He only nods. He looks around and tries to imagine the corners of tables with plastic on them, and baby gates going up the stairs. He can see a play pen in the living room and formula in the kitchen. He can definitely see them raising a child here. With a smile on his face, he begins to type. 


	4. Chapter Four

A whole month had passed since telling everyone about the pregnancy. Sharlotte had grown quickly in a month, and is showing a lot now. John can't help but sometimes stop what he's doing to nuzzle her belly and while she tries to look annoyed, he can see her fighting back a smile. At this particular point in time, they're curled up under a blanket in the living room with the fireplace lit. The heat is broken, and it's a freezing November night.

"This is tedious. Why is my body betraying me like this, John? I shouldn't be cold." 

"Well, considering you're pregnant, I don't think your body being a traitor should be much of a surprise." They can see their breath in the flat, and he can feel Sharlotte shivering. 

"Do you think Mrs. Hudson's heat is out?" John nods. He'd asked. Sharlotte sighs and sits up, hand on her growing stomach. "What are you doing?" 

"Calling someone I don't want to call... Hand me my phone." John raises an eyebrow at her but leans forward and gives her the phone. He's too cold to argue, so he reaches for another blanket as well and puts it over them. She sighs and scrolls through her minimum contacts, then presses one and holds the phone to her ear. John raises an eyebrow and waits. 

"Hello, Mycroft. Um... we're having a problem of sorts." John's eyes widen and he looks at her in surprise. He can't hear his end of the conversation, but he waits for Sharlotte's reply. 

"I don't care WHAT you and Lestrade are in the middle of. Shower, put your pants back on, and comb your hair. We're coming over. The heater in 221 is broken, and we're freezing. You wouldn't want your niece or nephew getting cold, right?" John smiles a bit and goes to boil tea. It's funny how Mycroft, who is virtually a big block of ice, already has such a soft spot for his sister's unborn child. They've been showered with gifts for the child since they told the politician, and Sharlotte mutters about how tedious it is even as she sorts the things they'll keep and the things they won't keep. Sharlotte comes in with a devious grin on her face. 

"Well, they were obviously having sex when I called but they said they'd make up the second bedroom for us." John winces and tries to push away the mental image those words had implanted in his mind.

"Okay, then. We'll pack a bag. Mrs. Hudson said it'd be a few days at the very least before the heater is fixed. She's going to go to a friend's house to stay, and when the people get here they'll phone her." Sharlotte nods and rests a hand on her stomach, almost subconsciously, and they go to get a bag packed. 

"At the next ultra sound, do you want to know the sex of the baby? It's in a month, but I figured we should go ahead and decide now." 

"I kind of do, so Mycroft can stop buying duplicates of everything." Sharlotte allows herself a small laugh at that. 

"It's a girl. I just KNOW it's a girl." John rolls his eyes. 

"You don't. You think it's a girl. Do you want a girl?" She thinks about that a moment and then shrugs, continuing to fold clothes. 

"Possibly. I mean... yes,I do. I want a girl. Do you want a girl, John?" He thinks about it for a moment and shrugs. 

"I don't mind either way. I'll love the child no matter what." She scowls. 

"I will too, but... a girl would be nice." She makes a face. "Sentiment. Blegh. I've turned into a sentimental person." John rolls his eyes and hugs her from behind, rubbing her stomach. 

"No, you've turned into a mother. Maybe now you'll understand why that pink lady thought of her daughter in her last moments." Sharlotte rolls her eyes.

"Okay, so maybe that was a bit not good..."

"It _was_ a bit not good, love. Hand me that shirt?" She nods and hands it to him. When their bag is packed, they leave the flat to find a car already waiting. John sighs and gets into it. 

When they get to the large house of Mycroft Holmes and Greg Lestrade, they go in to find them looking completely pissed off. Lestrade glares at Sharlotte. 

"That kid's a cockblock already and it isn't even born yet." Sharlotte tilts her head. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean that if you hadn't brought up the kid, you two would be freezing your arses off in 221B and we'd be enjoying fu-" Mycroft blushes and jabs him in the ribs with his elbow. 

"Gregory, shut up. Sharlotte, I assume you know the way to your room still?" She nods and takes John up to it. 

"You have your own room here?" She looks at him for a moment as she opens the door to said bedroom and nods. 

"I do. Why wouldn't I?" John rolls his eyes at the 'Are you really that much of an idiot' tone and sits down on the huge, comfortable-looking bed.  

"Because you and Mycroft don't get along." She seems to consider this for a moment, then shrugs and goes about unpacking. John studies the room. He'd expected something impersonal, but that is not the case. There are bookshelves on one wall containing a few medical journals, but there are lots of chemistry text books. John can see one sociology text book- the thought of Sharlotte bent over such a thing almost makes him giggle. He can see her nose scrunched up in confusion as she struggled to understand. When he gets closer, he sees other books as well. 'Treasure Island', 'Jane Eyre'- that one makes him raise an eyebrow- 'Wuthering Heights', 'Romeo and Juliet'... he mainly sees text books, though. Informational things no one else would enjoy. He looks around to see a night stand, a bathroom door, and a dresser. On the dresser are several bobby pins and hair ties. He smiles and looks around at the dark blue walls. There are pictures of bees and pictures of butterflies and flowers and other things. He turns to see Sharlotte watching him. She smiles a bit and crosses her arms. 

"I stayed here every school holiday in uni. I got clean here- the first time. And the second time... Mycroft and I don't hate each other nearly as much as we let on." She opens the door to a bathroom that has a huge jacuzzi tub with a hi-tech shower. "Fancy a bath?" She grins and goes to turn it on. 

~~~

The next morning, John wakes up to knocking on the door. "Hey! Wake up, you lot! Mycroft made breakfast and you'll hurt his feelings if you don't come eat it." Sharlotte grumbles and sits up. Her long hair is an absolute nest, and she's wearing nothing but a tank top and a pair of John's boxers. John smiles and kisses her shoulder. 

"It's breakfast time." She nods and stands up, grabbing for her dressing gown. When she ties it she turns to John and waits. He rolls his eyes and gets up, then pulls on a shirt. Greg is standing outside their door when they open it. Sharlotte looks at him for a moment, seemingly confused. 

"Why are you in my brother's- oh, yes. Never mind. You two are having some kind of affair." Greg only rolls his eyes and goes downstairs. He's obviously still peeved off about last night, but John only shrugs and follows. Sharlotte snickers behind her hand as they go after him to the kitchen. She has a bowl of plain oatmeal- she can't eat anything too flavorful, it'll make her sick- and John and everyone else have pancakes and bacon and hashbrowns. Sharlotte reads a paper as she eats and then looks at Lestrade intently. 

"Why have you been holding the interesting cases away from me?" He sighs and looks at John, who narrows his eyes. 

"Because they're too dangerous. You'll want to swish in and tell us how we screwed up, then you'll want to chase a murderer through London! You'll trip or something, and then you'll hurt the baby and John will be mad at me for letting you go and he'll be mad at you for going! Not to mention you'll be mad at yourself, maybe. I never know with you. You don't even understand why women think of their stillborn daughters..." Her eyes widen, then she narrows them and stands, stomping off to her room. Mycroft glares at Gregory. 

"Look what you did, Gregory. You've upset her. She's upset. John, go deal with her emotions. I'll stay down here and deal with Gregory for causing her to be emotional." John looks at him for a moment and shakes his head. 

"What did your parents DO to you two?!" Then he goes up the steps and into their room. "Sharlotte? Sweetheart, are you okay?" He sees the girl lying on the bed and sighs, shutting the door. He looks closer and sees she's rubbing her stomach, and looks to be in one of her stony-faced-I'm-not-crying moods. He sighs and lies next to her, setting a hand on her stomach. They lie like that for what seems like three hours, but it's only one and a half. 

"Mummy and father said I can't care. They say I don't know how to care- but I do. I did then, too. I just didn't let them see. Not on purpose, at least. But they saw and they STILL said it." John's eyebrows are furrowed and he looks at her a moment. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I had a pet that I loved SO much. A dog, named Redbeard. I've deleted what happened- sentiment that I didn't want to think about. Sadness. It clouded up space, and I couldn't let that happen. So they said I can't care. They said I'm a freak. Mycroft was always the perfect child. He made the good grades and could make friends, and he could pretend to care and HE cried at father's funeral. They weren't real tears. I've seen Mycroft cry real tears, and those weren't it." She's rambling, but it's something she's been bottling up for a long time. "I- I- 'Sharlotte, you stupid, stupid girl! How could you break mummy's vase? How could you say that to Mrs. Franlin? How could you, how COULD you?!'" She's breathing heavily. "'Sharlotte, you stupid girl! Why didn't you talk before now? How did you learn that language? How did you know that? No, you made that up!'" John rubs her back and hugs her. 

"Shhhh, love. Shhh. You're okay now, yeah? You're not weird. So what if you knew that language? So what if they liked Mycroft better? Mycroft is a twat, and you know that. So what if you didn't start talking soon enough? You know you aren't stupid, I know you aren't stupid, and our baby knows you aren't stupid. Calm down, you're working yourself up." He presses a kiss to her temple and she relaxes in his arms. "Are you good?" She nods. 

"Yes, John... thank you. Um. That was very unlike me." She takes a deep breath and stands, pulling the shirt over her bump. John smiles a tad bit. 

"It was very unlike you. However, I think you needed that much more than you'll ever admit to yourself." She only shrugs and lies back down. He smiles and pulls her into his arms. "You'll be a fantastic mother." 

~~~

Three days later, they're back in their flat. Sharlotte is currently solving cold cases without chasing anything, and John is trying to keep up with her long legs. He can't imagine how she's walking that fast with a four month baby bump, but he manages to keep up. He smiles when Lestrade looks a bit exasperated at her. 

"Sharlotte, I thought I told you-" 

"I haven't come to chase anything. We're in your office, either way. I solved this case. And this one. Give me another- at least a nine." Greg scoffs and shakes his head. 

"I don't know how you number them! You wont tell me. How about I let you choose from three inter-" 

"Sorry, Greg. Sharlotte and I have an appointment for Chinese takeout at home. Right, sweetheart?" She blinks. 

"We do? You should have told me. I would have dressed nicer." She's dressed impeccably, of course, and John only rolls his eyes. 

"You're so ridiculous. Come on, let's go home. You're tired- I can tell." She sighs. 

"I am not. My mind is what matters the rest is just-" 

"Transport, yeah. But your transport is currently holding another living thing within it, so you should really consider taking better care of it. Yeah? Come ON. Let's go home." She huffs. 

"Fine. Text me, Lestrade." 

When they do get home, they order takeout and Sharlotte changes into her dressing gown. 

"When is our next ultrasound, John?" 

"Next month." She nods and sets her head in his lap, fingers steepled under her nose. They stay like that for a long time. John sips tea and watches telly while she thinks. Occasionally he runs his fingers through her hair, but she usually swats at his hand. He chuckles and tries again. She huffs. 

"Stop it! I'm thinking of baby names!" His eyebrows raise and he looks down at her. 

"Yeah? What have you got so far?" She sighs and lets her hands fall to her sides. 

"I like Victoria, Imogen, Lillie, Alice, and Jane for a girl. For a boy I like William, Alexander, Benjamin, Theodore, and Lucas. You can choose from those, considering I like them all." John laughs and kisses her. 

"Oh yeah? Sounds good. I think for a girl I like Imogen Jane, and for a boy I like Alexander Hamish." She raises an eyebrow. 

"Hamish? But you hate your middle name." John sighs and stands when the bell rings. 

"Sentiment. And that's the food, I'll be right back." She raises an eyebrow and watches him go get the food. 'Sentiment? I see... Alexander Hamish. Well, it's a girl so we don't have to worry.' She smiles as he walks in with the food, reaching for her portion. 

"We can worry about names when we know the gender, Sharlotte." 

"It's a girl." John only rolls his eyes. 

"You don't know that." Sharlotte looks up and gives him an intense stare. John stares right back, even though he always loses these staring competitions. He blinks and curses under his breath, then she smirks and stabs a piece of beef with her for. 

"It is DEFINITELY a girl." 


End file.
